The Second Clone Wars
by Samurai Lord
Summary: What if Order 66 had never been given? What if Anakin had never become obsessed with power? Read this saga to find out.


The Second Clone Wars

Part I

Anakin Skywalker was pulled into the mad flow of people rushing to get into the airbus on Coruscant. Anakin had some special business to attend to for the Council. Rumors had it that the droids had almost completed their army, and now, three years after the first Clone Wars, the clones were being called upon again.

Mace Windu's words echoed in his head _'Remember Anakin, this is only a reconnaissance mission, not an attack.'_

Reconnaissance my butt! If I'm goin' halfway across the galaxy, I'm gonna have some fun!

The bus jumped into hyperspace.

"Hey! Jedi!" a gruff voice called out, tearing Anakin away from his thoughts.

Anakin, showing wisdom, paid no heed to the voice.

"I gotta debt to settle with your kind!" Anakin heard the report of a blaster mingled with a cry of pain a few yards behind him.

"Aaaaggggghhhhh!"

That got his attention. Swiftly he turned around just in time to see the gruff-voiced-alien put away a blaster, and a man dressed in Jedi robes fall to the floor of the airbus. Now people were screaming and running, but the bus was already in the air. Not finding anywhere else to run, they went up to the second floor.

Zzzzzzzzzzzshhhhhhhhhhhhh. Anakin's lightsaber was out in an instant and he jumped across the man on the floor and gestured towards the alien, then to one of the three escape pods in the back. The alien, a big, four-armed Besalisk, got the picture and clambered into the pod.

The tiny pod, with rations for three days, was programmed to be sent to the airbus station back on Coruscant. Since carrying a weapon without being a Clone or a Jedi was illegal, Anakin knew the authorities would apprehend the assailant.

"Nicely, with that situation, you dealt, Master Skywalker."

"Yoda?"

"Neglected to check for disturbances in the Force, you have, hmmmmmm?"

"Yes, Master Yoda. What are you doing here anyway?" Anakin moved over to the man on the floor.

"Come to follow you, I have." Yoda seemed to be poking fun at the young Jedi Knight.

Anakin opened his mouth to protest, but then thought better, and said, "Whoever this is, he's no Jedi. He has the robes, but no lightsaber. Probably some riffraff who picked up a robe in some trash unit."

An intercom clicked on. "Flight 501 will be landing in five minutes, please put your tables in the upright positions. Thank you for flying Planetary Traveler." The recorded transmission of a female's voice ended there.

Tatooine.

Anakin and Yoda were on speeders, heading towards Mos Eisley. Whipping by Sand Crawlers, carefully avoiding Tusken Raider camps, and traversing many miles, they slowly closed in the distance to Mos Eisley.

When they entered a ravine, Anakin felt something was wrong. Suddenly, an explosion to Yoda's right sent his speeder reeling towards Anakin's. In a huge crash, the speeders blew up, wounding the riders and sending them flying.

Slowly Anakin rose to his feet, clutching his left arm.

He wished he'd stayed down.

At least a hundred Tusken raiders were thundering down the hills on both sides of the ravine. With Yoda nowhere in sight, Anakin knew this was his last stand. Taking it easy, he reached for his lightsaber. It was good he activated it when he did, or else ten blaster bolts would have torn through his flesh.

Then, they were upon him.

Anakin's acrobatics mixed with the force and a lightsaber in his hand made him a formidable foe. Green blaster bolts were mixed with a blue blur as Anakin used the Force to propel himself around the battlefield.

Then, a huge green bolt flew by him. _Wait a minute, that laser is dressed in a Jedi robe. Yoda!_

Now Anakin and Yoda were back-to-back, hacking with their lightsabers and pushing with the Force, creating a wide berth around them. Then something strange happened.

Clone LAAT's started raining lasers from above, and AT-TE's poured down the hills on both sides. Clone snipers were picking off Tuskens from perches high in the dunes. Infantry were surrounding the Jedi and escorting them away from the battle zone.

Yoda and Anakin climbed into a passenger LAAT. Clone Medics began checking Anakin's shoulder, and Yoda's left leg.

"Clone!" Anakin shouted to the Clone Commander, passing their ship, still on the ground. "Who authorized your activation in combat?"

"I did." A deep, strong voice said.

Anakin, his injury forgotten, turned around to look into Mace Windu's dark brown eyes.

"I thought this was a reconnaissance mission."

"It was, until we got word CIS troops had landed on Tatooine." Mace responded somberly. "They've mobilized their whole force. The Clones were standing at the ready so we came ASAP."

"Not far, the droids are now." Yoda took it upon himself to enter the conversation.

"That's right. Only about 5 kilometers away." Mace looked at the horizon, as if to check for the CIS attack force.

"So," Anakin said. "The Second Clone War begins."


End file.
